With the advent of the world wide web, a wealth of information is available. Users can search for information on virtually any topic, and expect to find something related on a webpage. Moreover, much information that was disseminated over periods of days or weeks a generation ago can now be disseminated and updated frequently. For example, stock quotes of stock exchanges or bourses were often available to most people only via newspapers or contact with a professional trader. However, many services available on the world wide web make such information available on a nearly real-time basis.
Similarly, many websites have information that is updated frequently, sometimes multiple times per minute. For some such information, technology is employed to make those updates automatically available. For example, RSS feeds are available on some sites, and other sites provide an automatic update controlled from the server which a user can elect by affirmatively choosing to update the webpage. However, many webpages are updated frequently, but offer no method for updating those webpages within a user's browser. Moreover, webpages may be updated frequently only on occasion, such as when an instructor at a school updates class information for example, or when an auction is occurring on line.
Whether by employees watching an online auction, students seeking information about classes, or users following prices of stocks or news information, the following procedure is often employed to refresh web pages. FIG. 1 illustrates an embodiment of a method of refreshing a webpage. Method 100 may be employed to refresh web pages frequently, and thereby obtain updated information. At module 110, a user accesses a webpage. The user accesses the page to obtain information which may be updated frequently or soon. At module 120, the user works for a few minutes at a job-related task. At module 130, the user refreshes the webpage, taking a minute from the job-related task to see if information has changed (such as tracking stock price changes for example). The user then returns to module 120 and works for a few more minutes, before progressing again to module 130 for another webpage refresh.
Analyzing this process, it becomes apparent that a worker working 4 minutes and spending 1 minute refreshing a webpage on a regular cycle will spend 20% of the time not doing work. Moreover, the worker potentially incurs startup delays each time the task is resumed, and may incur loss of productivity due to distractions involved in keeping track of when to refresh. Thus, worker productivity may be severely undermined by the presence of a webpage and a desire to refresh the webpage. As a result, it may be useful to provide a facility for refreshing any webpage automatically. Moreover, such a facility would preferably be under user control, rather than relying on features of the webpage.